Featured Artist Jill Price

Artsy Shark presents the portfolio of Canadian artist Jill Price. She has a unique approach to an unusual subject matter. Enjoy and visit her website to see more of her work.

What are your goals?

One of my current goals is to find the right audiences and representation for my work. I have been doing all of the research of shows, social marketing, and applying and paying to get into exhibition space by myself and I am getting burnt out trying to keep track of all that needs to be done to self-promote.

I have recently begun to scope out art agents to take my work to art fairs as well as make some contact with galleries in larger urban centres which cater to designers/decorators. I figure if I can get a few people working for me, I can just focus on the creative production. But beyond all this, I feel I am getting close to creating a product that will have a larger audience appeal and still be true to my artistic practice and environmental agenda.

What are you working on now?

Currently I am working on a show entitled Fabricated Landscapes that will exhibit at an amazing space called Double Door Gallery in the rural community Anten Mills. The work investigates the suburban sprawl and the domestication of rural objects and livestock to suit a suburban lifestyle.

Although the iconography is playfully graphic and nostalgic, the work addresses how technology has undermined both the purpose of humans and animals alike, and how disconnected we are from the land that sustains us. Combining carving, painting, and stitching on surfaces of fabric, wood, and plexiglass, I juxtapose materials that are natural against those which are manufactured and plastic.

It is my hope that this body of work will serve to reach a large demographic due to it’s minimalist approach to some big issues. From a community stand point, I am currently collaborating with two other artists to organize a Nuit Blanche event in Barrie, Ontario in celebration of Ontario’s Culture Days at the beginning of October. We are hoping to have over 30 artists install work in the downtown as well as have people performing readings, music, theatre, etc. every half hour from 7 pm til 7am in the morning.

I am also competing a lot in Art Battles, which are live painting competitions. These events are helping to raise my profile outside of my immediate community. My next one is to take place down in Toronto, Ontario on July 26th where I will paint off against 15 other artists to win the audiences vote. We are only given 20 minutes to complete our work of art, which is then auctioned off to the crowd. Later that week I will be painting live on stage at the Aurora Jazz Festival to the music of Martin Acouin Band.

What inspires you?

I would have to say that car rides to see family serve to be one of the biggest resources / inspirations for my work. As my husband drives and listens to one of his books on tape, it gives me time to contemplate all that I am observing, as well as ponder the politics which inform the constantly changing landscapes that pass by in the window.

I am also inspired by the work of other artists. I am drawn to art that uses unconventional materials to communicate their message. I often flip through old and new art magazines making notes about which work I am drawn to and why, as well as to find methods or materials which would lend themselves well to my own practice. Most recently, I have been drawing on childhood memories to arrive at new stories and iconography to incorporate into my work.